England is forbidding puppies and kittens from being sold by pet shops in an attempt to crack down on animal exploitation and abuse.
The government said it would roll out the legislation next year after holding public hearings that showed 95 percent support for the ban.
“This will mean that anyone looking to buy or adopt a puppy or kitten under six months must either deal directly with the breeder or with an animal rehoming center,” the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Sunday as part of its Christmas animal welfare push.
The measure is commonly called Lucy’s Law in honor of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was rescued from a puppy farm in Wales in 2013.
She had spent most of her life in a cage and was no longer able to breed, because her hips had fused together from lack of movement.
A woman named Lisa Garner took her home and launched a social media awareness campaign that changed the way residents of England get their pets.
The government said the new legislation would help “end the terrible welfare conditions found in puppy farming and solve a range of existing animal welfare issues.”
Lucy died in 2016.
The government believes that the ban would keep “high-volume, low-welfare breeders” — both licensed and unlicensed — from flooding pet shops with puppies and kittens raised in unethical conditions.
Shops would only be allowed to deal with animal welfare shelters or the primary breeders of the pet.
The department released no figures estimating how many sales the new legislation would affect, but Battersea Dogs Home head Claire Horton said the rules would “make sure the nation’s much-loved pets get the right start in life.”
From 1998 to 2006, London-based Battersea produced a popular TV series about pet rescues and care, which reflected the general affection that residents of England have for cats and dogs.
The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, a veterinary charity in Portsmouth, England, said that 49 percent of adults in the UK owned at least one pet this year.
The charity estimated that a cat population of 11.1 million in the UK edged out the 8.9 million dogs and 1 million rabbits.
The government has unfurled a number of animal welfare initiatives over the past few months that activists hope other European countries would soon follow.
One law in October banned licensed shops from dealing in puppies and kittens under the age of eight weeks.
The department is looking at legislation requiring all rescue organizations and rehoming centers to have a license.
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